


Buzzfeed Unsolved but Low Budget

by heereandqueer



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: M/M, Pre-Squip, but i tagged it as graphic anyway just in case, its a buzzfeed unsolved au, jeremy thinks every creak in the dark is a demon coming to kill him, michael does not things ghosts are real and wants jeremy to get scared, michael gets injured near the end but theyre kind of minor injuries, so read at your own risk and stay safe, starts out funny and then, thats... it, the bois go ghost hunting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-24 22:10:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12022068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heereandqueer/pseuds/heereandqueer
Summary: Jeremy gets this great idea while stoned that he and Michael should go ghost hunting, but wasn't expecting him to actually agree and drag him along.Jeremy doesn't even like ghosts





	Buzzfeed Unsolved but Low Budget

**Author's Note:**

> Hey my names Hailey, I'm 16, and I never fucking learned how to update my own ongoing fic and just continue to write other things instead in the time I could be writing my plotted out chapter. :)
> 
> this au was created by the lovely gabby (aka pink-berry-froyo and @artttho on tumblr) where the boys are shane and ryan from buzzfeed unsolved, and so i wrote a thing!!! because i would die for gabby and this au!!!!! go check out their art for it, it's amazing!!!
> 
> (this didnt really have a beta reader and i kept making changes after people would read it so hhhh sorry)

 

It started with the boys binge watching Stranger Things when it came out. That changed to X-Files, then Ghost Adventures.

They were high night when Jeremy suggested “Hey dude, what if we did that?” 

Michael just laughed, “yeah okay dude.” But the more he thought about it, the cooler it sounded.

Which is how Michael ended up going on a rampage online ordering ‘ghost hunting shit’, and driving over to Jeremy’s house with a camera around his neck.

He ended up just dropping the box with ‘EBAY’ written on the sides onto his bed, a shit eating grin on his face as Jeremy’s showed more confusion. 

“We’re going ghost hunting!!” Michael threw his arms out excitedly.

“We’re doing..  _ What now _ ?” Jeremy had begun to dig through the box, his eyebrows etching together in confusion.

“Remember last week? You said we could do it, so I’m here to prove that ghosts aren’t real,” Michael had always been sceptical. Not that he  _ doesn't  _ want ghosts to be real, he does, but he believes in too much science and everything close to ‘evidence’ is so easily unprovable. 

“Michael I- I’m not getting into that argument with you again.” Jeremy just crossed his arms. Jeremy had always been terrified of the idea of ghosts, and yet he was obsessed with them. Even demanded that he get the ghost in their matching pac man tattoos because he loves them, but this kid was a scaredy cat.

“Pack your shit, we’re going ghost hunting!!” Mike repeated, throwing a bag to his friend and grabbed his own.

(Jeremy’s dad asks where they’re going before they leave, and why Jeremy is holding a bat.

“We’re going ghost hunting Mr. Heere!!” Michael said excitedly, holding his arms full of stuff up as if to further make his point.

“Oh.. alright. Be back before the sun rises I guess? I don’t know how long ghost hunting takes. And Jeremy?” He paused to turn back to his only son, “Be careful with that bat. Last time you held that thing you hit me in the balls, and I doubt Michael wants to be the sequel to that.”

Jeremy’s cheeks were red, gripping the wood in his hands tighter and Michael laughed, giving him a nudge.

“He’s not wrong,” and with that they were off.)

 

\------

 

“What is this place?” Jeremy breathed out, his own breath collecting in front of him at the cold air, staring down the mouth of a damp and dark tunnel.

“It’s called the Gate to Hell.” Michael read off of his phone, pointing his camera at it, shrugging his shoulders a bit. He heard Jeremy scoff a bit.

“Of course it is.”

Michael was already stepping in, ready for this stupid thing. 

“Hey Michael, just so you know I didn’t sign up to get possessed!” Jeremy called after him, a nervous laugh bubbling up in his throat. Joking wasn’t really easy right now, but he needed a distraction.

The light of his flashlight showing off just how much his hand was shaking as he pointed it down the black opening.  _ How did he never know this was here? _

He was too proud to admit he only said it would be a good idea because he was  _ extremely  _ high. He was just gonna do this stupid thing and be done, right?

Wrong. So fucking wrong.

Michael started to fucking  _ talk  _ to the ghosts now, “I read that there’s a demon named Mike here? What’s up dude, lets chat.”

Jeremy shook his head, looking around some more, but not yet stepping inside of this stupid, stupid tunnel. “Don’t taunt them.”

“Shut up Jer-- Hey demonbuddy, the fuck is up with you jacking my name huh? Bit rude if you ask me.” Michael was stepping further in now, Jeremy barely being able to see him now from where he was and  _ that wasn’t going to do _ .

Two seconds later Jeremy is at Michael’s side, his nails digging into Michael’s jacket as he clutches the back of it.

“I think he’s scared, I’m obviously the superior Michael.” Michael smiled, moving his camera around. “Yo ghosties, this is my friend Jeremy. He’s scared of you.”

“Please stop,” Jeremy pleaded, looking around a bit before just pressing his forehead into the back of Michael’s shoulder with his eyes shut tightly. He wished he hadn’t agreed to come, but he isn’t leaving Michael here to die.

Jeremy’s eyes opened when he felt Michael lean down, watching him lay his flashlight on the floor. “What are you-” 

“Alright, turn this flashlight off if you want…” He paused to think, Jeremy felt his heart drop. “If you wanna kill us.”  _ Oh of course _ .

Then the flashlight goes right off, leaving them in total darkness. Jer couldn’t help the actual shriek that left his lips as he fumbled for his own flashlight. “Not funny Michael!!”

“Oh m.. my god” Michael laughed, clutching his stomach as he got dragged back to the car, forgetting his flashlight left alone on the wet stone floor.

They both sunk back into the car quickly, Michael giving Jeremy a moment to lay all the way back in his seat and breathe. “You okay?” 

“Flashlights don’t do that Michael!!” Jeremy already was trying to argue, knowing for a fact that Michael didn’t believe it was a supernatural thing of any sort.

“They do when they’re cooling down,” He shrugged, shoving his keys into the slot. “Now sit up. I’ll buy you a shake and fries at Tick Tock.” 

With a grumped, “I’m gonna beat you with this baseball bat. But yeah food sounds good.” Jeremy was sitting his seat up, and they were off.

 

\------

 

They were now sat on the hood of Michael’s car, dipping fries into their ice cream as they talked. 

“Why did you have to wear that stupid shirt?” Jeremy asked, motioning his arm vaguely at Michaels’ torso where he was wearing a “I want to believe” shirt.

“Irony Jer,” Michael teased before continuing, “Wanna go somewhere else?”

“The arcade?” Jeremy asked hopefully, but knew it wouldn’t be as pleasent as the arcade.

“Nope, run down asylum.” Michael smirked, turning his phone screen to Jeremy. “They’re tearing it down soon and I thought we could go check it out.. But only if you want to.”

Sure Michael loved seeing Jeremy nearly piss himself from fear as an asshole best friend, but he also cared a lot about the boy and didn’t want to do anything that would push him past what he was comfortable with. Doesn’t mean he can’t tease..

“Unless you’re scared, then we can just leave,” Michael shoved a fry into his mouth, giving Jeremy a look. 

“Mmmph,” He made a noise, sliding off of the car to throw their trash away. “Fuck you. Let’s go.”

 

\------

 

Why did he say yes, why did he agree to come, why was he standing in front of the creepiest building he had ever seen?

“How are we even going to get in?” Jeremy was hoping, praying, that they wouldn’t be able to get in and they’d just have to leave.

Michael fixed the strap on his camera he was hooking around Jeremy’s neck, watching the big white walls for a moment. “I figured break a window, or find ones that broke, and climb in.”

“Why?” Jeremy asked without really thinking, mostly just trying to draw out time until he needed to go inside.

“Oh I don’t know, should I just ask the demons to open the door for us?” Michael shot back, sarcasm dripping off of his tongue.

“No I-” Quickly trying to backtrack, he could tell Michael was up to something.

“You’re right Jer- HEY GUYS CAN SOMEONE DO US A FAVOR-” His yelling was quickly shut up by Jeremy covering his mouth his hand with a whisper/yell of “Shut uppp!”

 

\-------

 

So that’s what they do, Michael hops through a broken window, helping Jeremy up through it, and they start to wander. 

Somewhere along the way Michael managed to slip away from him for a moment, wandering into some empty room, as Jeremy just looked around and trying not to bother anything the best he can. But he hears a loud bang from down the hall and yelped, now realizing Michael is gone. “Micha-” His yell dies short when he sees the boy walking back with a ball in his hand.

What the hell?

“I found this, oh also I knocked a table over, sorry.” He seemed completely unfazed by this, pulling his arm back and chucking the ball down the dark hallway as hard as he can.

They listened to it bounce for a moment, hearing it stop, and before they can more or talk it bounces a handful more time. Fuck no.

Michael looked at Jeremy with a huge smile, “They wanna play.”

“Shu- I’m going to get it.” He suddenly decided, before he could backtrack.

“Huh?” 

“Yeah, I’ll be right back.” His way down the hallway was slow, almost silent except for the slight squeak of his shoe sole every once in awhile as he tiptoed down. Jeremy figured if he did this then he could bring the stupid ball back and ‘prove himself’ and they could leave.

That was before he actually  _ found  _ the ball. 

Michael heard a scream, and that’s all he needed before he was bounding down the long hall. “What?!”

Eyesight was drawn to where Jeremy’s shaky hand was pointing. He saw ‘Jeremiah’ written in shaky black letters, and that stupid ball sitting right under it.

“You moved that,” Michael laughed, patting Jeremy’s shoulder, a bad attempt at scaring him but it was cute that Jer tried.

“Michael, I didn’t! I swear!” His eyes were the widest Mike had ever seen them. Okay.. He just looked around a little.

“It’s also right by  _ ‘420  _ Blaze It’ so maybe the ghost is just a funny guy, or gal, or non-binary pal. I don’t discriminate ghosts!” Michael called back into the hall like he was actually talking to someone. 

“Can we go?  _ Please _ ?” Jeremy’s voice sounded on the brink of cracking, and Michael decided it was enough of torturing the kid tonight.

“Sure thing, come on.” And they were hopping back through the window a couple of minute later.

Before getting into the car, Michael turned back to the place that would be torn down in the coming months, and yelled “Fuck off demons!!”

 

\-------

 

By the time the PT Cruiser is pulling into Jeremy’s driveway, it’s well into 3 am, and they’re both so tired but also really wanna check out the footage they got.

So they end up in sweats, with Jeremy's’ laptop and Michael’s camera spread out in front of them and Jers’ comforter around their shoulders as they share earbuds.

The first whisper they hear in the recorder causes Jeremy to suck in a sharp breath, the second bringing him to scooting closer to Michael, and the last one that happens to be when they were looking at the ball under Jeremy’s name, his hand goes jerking out to gripping Michael’s knee in fear.

“I’ve had enough for tonight.” He reached forward, shutting the laptop, knowing Jeremy has had enough as well, before he stood and popped his back gently.

The equipment and Jeremy’s dumb bat are shoved into the back of his closet, and the teens collapse into the bed, their eyes shut in seconds and the room filled with snoring.

 

\-------

 

The next time he gets Jeremy to agree to go on a ghost hunt is a month or so later, and he’s driving them home from a shitty day at school one Friday in April.

“Wanna go out tonight?” Michael was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel along to the Weezer song playing through his speakers at a low volume.

“Where?” Jeremy’s voice wavered slightly, looking over at Michael very confused.

He stopped at the corner, plucking his phone out of the cup holding, opening the webpage he had been on during study hall. “Haunted hotel?”

“Oh-Ghost hunting,” Jeremy looked a little surprised, leaning in more to read the page. “Yeah sure, why not.” 

Michael knew he was trying to be all cool about it, like he wasn’t still scared from the last trip.

“Cool, we’ll stop by your place and get the stuff and go get a room.” Michael was grinning ear to ear, ready to torment Jeremy all night again.

 

-

 

An hour later, Jeremy was flopping down to sit on the bed, tearing open the pack of Skittles he had bought on the way to their room. “This place isn’t even scary. The vending machine has Reece’s cups.” 

“.. You’re allergic to peanuts idiot that should be sc-oh my god!” Michael yelled from the bathroom, cause Jeremy to jump up and run over.

“What?!” His hands grabbed the door frame to catch himself from falling into the room, seeing Michael pointing at the bathtub. 

“Jets.” Is all he says, smiling wider than Jeremy had probably ever seen, over some dumb bathtub jets.

Jeremy just shook his head, sighing softly with a “I’m going to set up the cameras and shit.”

-

They then decide to wander the halls, and find the bar shut down and empty, so Michael -being Michael- decides it’s a wonderful idea to sneak in.

“I’m more scared of getting in trouble from this than I am of the ghosts man, can we leave?” Jeremy begged, pulling at Michael’s shirt sleeve gently.

“No come on, I read some girls wander around here that used to be like, prostitutes or some shit and their ghosts feel you up.” He paused to look back at Jeremy, “the most action you’ve seen in awhile-” 

He receives a swift and hard smack over the head, laughing as Jeremy squirms uncomfortably.

“Why the hell am I even friends with you, and why do I keep coming on these trips with you?” Jeremy tugged his jacket closer, feeling colder than he had seconds earlier, like someone had turned a fan on right in front of him.

“Cause you would be even more worried if I left you at home to go on these, you’d be scared a supernatural being would eat me or some shit,” Michael’s voice wavered in pitch as he kept ducking behind the bar, looking for something.

“Alright, if a ghost  _ doesn’t  _ want me to steal this alcohol, like, I don’t know,” he thought for a second before seemingly deciding what he wanted to tease the ghosts with this time. “Just straight up kill me.”

“Michael!” The name came out louder than expected, Michael pushing forward to cover Jeremy’s mouth over the bar, both boys staring right at each other in silence for a little bit, waiting to hear if someone was coming.

When they assumed they were in the clear, Michael slipped the bottle into his bag, walking back around the bar and whispered, “Let’s go back to the room, I think you scared the ghosts off with you squeal.”

-

Too much alcohol and some more cheap vending machine snacks later, the boys were laying flat on their backs in the bed, staring at the ceiling. 

They had been hearing footsteps for a long time, deciding that probably no one is pacing for two hours above their heads at 4 am but neither being sober enough to care right now.

Suddenly Michael shoved Jeremy and jump off of the bed, his shirt being pulling off over his head. “Dude I’m checking out the jets.”

Jeremy’s intoxicated mind took a second to realize what he meant, and he was sent into a giggling fit. “You’re going to take a bath?”

“Yep, and you’re joining me. Bring the camera,” Michael was kicking his shoes off messily now, waving Jeremy over to the bathroom.

Even in his state, this confused Jeremy, “Huh? Wait me in the bath? With you? And you want the camera?” He was not understanding.

“Don’t like jizz your pants, we’re keeping our boxers on and yes bring the camera- this is gonna be fucking amazing!” Michael never was the most graceful drunk.

Which resulted in him tripping as he got his jeans off, filling the tub before Jeremy could even make it fully across the room to the bathroom.

He made sure it was hot enough, watching Jeremy strip down (he blamed it on the alcohol later, saying he doesn’t do well with social cues when he’s drunk.) and focus the camera on them before both of the boys managed to fit their long ass legs in the tub.

Jeremy had his crossed, pulling them in as close as he could, leaning his back against the cold side, while Michael had his knees pulled up to his chest.

Moments passed of them staring at the still water, before Jeremy started to laugh.  _ Loudly _ .

“The jets don’t work!!” 

“The jets don’t work.” Michael said softer than his friend had, but still smiling at how stupid this was. “Now we’re just two bro sitting in a bathtub.”

“Oh my fucking god-” Jeremy cackled, running both hands through his hair as they both laughed but neither made a move to get out.

When the water began to get cold, they both tried off and fell into bed, not bothering to clean up as Jeremy watched the alarm clock hit  _ 5  _ am.

“Night Michael.” “Night Jer.”

-

When they rewatched all of the footage the next morning, they found that the footsteps only settled when the sun rose, and that the bathroom scene was even funnier when they were sober.

Didn’t stop their cheeks from burning as they packed up, and checked out.

 

\------

 

Going to creepy places, lots of stupid banter, Jeremy screaming, and them vlogging it became a thing. It caught on. 

They started just doing it for fun, Michael loving to edit videos so he made them look pretty nice, and they just shared them with their friends. But then more kids at school heard and watched them, and shared them.

And that’s how they ended here, over a year later with 100k subscribers on their dumb channel, and even having times where they drove out of state to find new places to ‘ghost hunt’.

Tonight they were staying the night at supposedly the ‘most haunted house in America’, and were sitting in the basement getting their equipment set up there before they wandered the house some more.

“Supposedly a lady wanders here looking for her crying baby, that’s really sad,” Michael said, fixing a wire on his audio pack, shoving it back into his jean pocket.

“I don’t care how sad she is, if she comes near me I’ll kick her ass.” Jeremy joked. “Right.” Michael just scoffs, rolling his eyes as Jeremy just leans over the camera he’s focusing and gives a look right into it.

And that’s how they end that conversation, setting off to go search the house for any kind of activity. (They don’t end up finding anything substantial, at least not to Michael, the nonbeliever.)

(Although he does get a rise out of Jeremy when he sets their flashlights on the floor like the first hunt, and screams “PLUNGE US INTO DARKNESS, FUCKERS”)

They’re now settling back into where they will be the rest of the night, Michael unfolding their sleeping bags as Jeremy hooks the camera onto their tripod, straightening it out before he drops down onto his ‘bed’ for the following hours.

“I don’t know Jer, I don’t think the guy down here is as tough as he seems.” Michael said, referring to the ‘ghost’ that haunts this basement, the supposed most haunted place in the entire four story house.

“Michael,” Jeremy’s tone was warning, as he sunk down into his sleeping bag, turning to face the boy. “Can we ever go somewhere that you don’t try to fuck with the spirits?”

“Now where’s the fun in that?” His tone was more teasing, as he laid down on his back, sliding his glasses off of his face.

A beat passed.

“Night Miah,”

“Goodnight Michael,” Jeremy smiled, closing his eyes in hope for getting at least some sleep tonight.

Not even a full hour later, there is the distinctive sound of the basement door (that had been locked) was creaking open, and Jeremy’s arm shot out to grab Michael. “Did you hear that?”

“Yeah,” he said, yawning and sitting up. He felt around for a moment before shoving his glasses messily onto his face, shining a flashlight by the doorway.

Silence.

More silence.

And the doorway is completely empty. Figures.

“What the  _ fuck _ ,” Jeremy whispers, knowing exactly ‘ _ what the fuck’ _ , but even Michael is slightly freaked at this point.

Not that he can let that fact be known, as he stands and walks closer “Alright, Alright demon. The hell do you want with us at-” he paused to check the time, “ _ 5:30 _ in the morning.”

He paced around a bit, playing with his flashlight. “Hey ghosts, now would be a great time to possess me, I’m here for it, my body is ready.”

“No his body is not-jesus fuck Mike.” Jeremy groaned, rolling out of his sleeping bag finally, standing up.

“No you’re right, he should totally take me out to dinner first.” Michael clicked his light on and off a couple of times, pointing it at a water stain on the ceiling.

“ _ Michael _ .” His tone was more of a warning one now.

There’s another moment of silence before a faint, almost whisper is heard and felt on his ear. A chill ran down his spin quickly, his fingers tightening around his light. 

“Cute trick Jeremy, you know it’s not going to work on me.” He was crossing his fingers in hopes that it really was Jeremy.

“What?” Jeremy’s voice was far, too far for Michael’s liking. “I’m over adjusting the camera Mike?”

Michael turned to shoot Jeremy a sharky remark to hide his own growing fears, but as soon as he did so his body was thrown back a foot or so against the wall, his head knocking back against it.

“MICHAEL!” Jeremy’s voice cut through the air.

The impact of his body hitting the wall knocking the air from his lungs with an  _ ‘oof’  _ and a loud bang that echoes the small room they were in.

Yellow light from Jeremy’s flashlight flickered on and over to Michael quickly, the boy wincing as he pushed off of the wall.

Eyes are wide, and there silence before, “Holy shit,” “Did you just-” “Yeah..”

Jeremy goes to step forward and speak, but a scream is suddenly ripped from Michaels lungs as his back suddenly felt on fire, stinging like hell- so much he sinks to his knees in pain.

“Motherfuc-” His head hung, his hands pressed firmly to the ground as he attempted to keep himself up as he tried to take deep breaths and will the pain away,

Of course Jeremy is right at his side, his hands hovering because he doesn’t know if or where he can touch him yet.

“Mm..my back-” He croaks out, his eyes shutting tightly as Jeremy pushed his shirt up gently to find long, bright red, hot scratches ripped down his back.

It doesn’t take but a second before he is lifted up with a quick, “We’re getting out of here,” as he attempts to hold Michael up and shove their things hazardly into their bags and trek up the basement stairs.

Once they’re out of the doorway, the door slams so hard close that it rattles a bit like it may well just fall off all together.

Jeremy manages to get to the door, going to push it open and it doesn’t budge.

“No. No no no no.” He repeats, shoving harder and harder with no luck. The door is ‘locked’.

He needs to get Michael out of this house. This can’t be happening. Fuck just open the door!

Jeremy sets the bags down, helping Michael support himself against the wall before he begins to bang into it, using all of the strength he has in his thin frame.

“Jer-” Michael starts, standing up a little straighter.

“Michael I’m trying okay? We’re gonna get out of here.”

“Jer-”

“I just wanted one of these places to just be easy, I wanted to sleep in this house, upload this video of the wind making noises that sound like whispers and have you tease me for freaking out over.” Jeremy was rambling now and Michael really needed his attention just for a second.

“JEREMY!”

When he finally turned and looked, he saw Michael’s hand cupping his nose, blood freely spilling over his fingers.

His nose was bleeding.  _ Of course _ his nose was bleeding.

“God dam-No!” Jeremy lets out a loud frustrated noise and pulls back, hitting the door one last time with all the power he has left in him.

M ichael is blown away when the door actually breaks off the hinges and smacks onto the ground outside of the house.

But Michael’s back to the calling, “Jer, Jer, Jeremy- Miah-” He could feel the same distinctive chill down his spine as he did earlier, and was now feeling the pain in his ankle he thinks he hit on the way up the basement stairs.

Jeremy gets him out of there and to the car like the place was on fire, helping him sit up on the hood to take a breather and give Jeremy a second to check his back. 

He’s busying himself checking out the scars, while Michael uses Jeremy’s extra shirt to clean his now not bleeding, but still burning, nose up.

Without thinking, Jeremy presses the tips of his fingers onto one of the scratches, sending Michael jerking away with a yelp, letting out a “Sorry!”

“-’sokay” Michael says softly, settling back down, inspecting his definitely swollen ankle.

When he is, Jeremy moves back in front of him to check his nose and is met with a surprisingly grinning face.

“A ghost attacked me.” He was far too giddy about this fact.

 

“Fuck you Michael,” Jeremy said, hugging him gently. He was scared shitless in there.

Suddenly another loud bang is heard from the house, and both boys are leaping up and into the car, Jeremy sitting behind the wheel and peeling out in now time.

His hands are shaking, and he decides it’s best to stop at the local Walmart because he needs a breather before he drives any further and Michael needs things for his back.

They sit in silence, the car off, parked under a flickering street light in the completely deserted (save, a couple of employees cars) and settle back into their seats.

Jeremy can feel his shoulder starting to throb, peering out the window to see the sun peaking over the horizon as the digital clock on his phone's lock screen changes to 6:27, the crickets being the only noise around besides their breathing and even they’re fading fast.

The boys almost in unison turn to face each other, wide eyes mimicking each others.

Jeremy does the last thing he thought he’d be doing that night, and grabs Michael by the cheeks, pressing their lips together in a hurry. Jeremy tastes like sweat, Michael has a faint iron taste from the bloody nose, but Michael just holds onto his arms and pulls him even closer.

They have to pull away far too soon for ethers liking, still having trouble catching their breaths, just staring at each other, more scared of being the first one to talk than they were of that house back there.

“The camera on the dash is still running,” Jeremy blurts out, his eyes darting over to see the red light blinking, indicating that yes it had in fact been recording that entire scene.

“Oh my god Jeremy,” This time Michael pulls Jeremy in, a hand pressed to the back of his neck as he does so.

For a moment he forgets how badly his entire body is aching from the beating he took and the adrenaline rush. He’s completely focused on Jeremy and his slightly chapped lips and his sweaty curls that are pressed into Michael’s forehead and how his glasses were pushed into his face awkwardly.

Michael only realizes he’s crying when Jeremy pulls away, lightly brushing the pads of his thumbs against his cheeks.

“Oh.. Michael…” His voice was soft, breath fanning over Michael’s already flushed face.

“Sorry I just- that was a lot.” He sniffled softly, his eyes averting somewhere else that wasn’t Jeremy’s sad gaze.

“Fuck I- Shouldn’t have kissed you after all of that oh my god-” Jeremy’s rambling was quickly cut off. “Jeremy Heere, don’t you dare take that kiss back, I’ll kill you.”

A beat. “I’ll haunt your ass if you kill me,” He was teasing now, that was a good sign.

“ _ Please don’t _ ” Michael had a smile on his face though, letting Jeremy know he was okay. At least okay as he could be right now.

The boys take a moment to just sit in silence, Jeremy’s hand rubbing Michael’s knee in a circular pattern to calm him down, Michael’s hand running up and down Jeremy’s spine as they watched the sun rise up into the sky before deciding to go in and get what they needed.

Wandering the aisle, arms full of medicine and bandages and ice packs, the boys nearly stepping on each others feet because they refuse to step too far from each other and are glued at the hip. (Also Michael was favoring one foot over the other, and needed the support of Jeremy’s body to walk.)

“I think an empty Walmart at 7 am is scarier than anything we’ve been through tonight,” Michael joked as they slipped into the empty men’s room with their collection of first aid items.

“Oh a thousand percent,” Jer chuckled as he wet a paper towel while Michael settled in on top of the counter, resting a hand on his shoulder as he began to gently clean up his still red nose, the blood having dried now.

Michael wouldn’t stop talking for long enough for Jeremy to finish, shoving his hand aside to talk over and over again.

“Maybe I’ll have scars on my back and get to tell people I kicked a ghosts ass,” Michael’s eyes were trained on the ceiling, his feet swinging slightly as Jeremy stood between his legs.

“Alright,” Jeremy said, half listening, more worried about cleaning and bandaging his nose.

“And I get to tell everyone you broke a fucking door down,” He winced slightly at the end of the sentence as his ankle hit the bottom of the counter, reminding him how much it hurt still.

“Alright,” He repeated back, just wanting to finish this up and get back home as soon as possible.

But Michael wasn’t done rambling, “And-”

The sentence cut short when Jeremy’s lips met his, shutting the kid up.

“Alright Michael,” But he was smiling anyway.  _ He could do that now, rad. _

Michael didn’t mutter another word, and let Jeremy finish what he was doing.

 

\------

 

They nearly ran right into one of Michael’s moms in the door as they walked in, Jeremy nearly carrying a sleepy and slightly broken Michael up to the door.

“What-Jesus,” was all that she said before helping Jeremy bring him inside.

“When you said ghost hunting I didn’t think you’d come home like-” She waved her arm over to Michael’s current state on the couch, using her other hand to rub her temples gently.

“Sorry Mama..” Michael didn’t really know what to say, cause  _ damn  _ he wasn’t expecting to leave the place like that either.

Both of the boy's parents were used to them leaving for nights to do this dumb vlog thing, but the worst they’d ever come home with was Jeremy having a badly bruised knee from running into a table in the dark.

“What the hell even happened?” His other mom was settling into the couch beside him, watching him nervously. What kind of trouble had they gotten into?

Instead of a reply, Michael’s brown eyes just filled with tears, allowing himself to be pulled into his mom's arms in a tight hug.

He wasn’t fully crying, no sobbing, no tears ever fell from his eyes, only clouding his vision. But that didn’t mean his body wasn’t shaking, his fingers tangling into the back of her shirt during the embrace.

She runs her hands through his hair softly, holding him as Jeremy began to explain everything that had happened, his hands waving around dramatically the entire time as he recalled the shit show just a couple of hours before.

After he’s finished explaining, Michael’s mom’s agree they should both go get some rest, and they’ll call Jeremy’s dad to explain everything. (Also telling them that they are taking a break from this stuff.)

_ (Neither of them miss the way when Jeremy helps Michael up, giving him another hug and how Michael presses a gentle kiss to Jeremy’s neck before they make their way up to his room carefully.) _

It only took Michael a handful of seconds to strip his gross jeans off and fall into bed with a groan, forgetting his back is fucked, and sighing when his head hit the pillow.

Jer made sure that he was comfortable, going to let him sleep and probably go call his dad or something so he didn’t freak, but when he pushed off of the bed to leave, Michael’s hand instantly grabbed his thin wrist with a small, “ _ Don’t leave _ .”

He agrees, moving to sit against the headboard and let’s Michael rest his head in his lap. He’s threading his fingers through his knotted hair, kind of spacing off just thinking about everything that had just happened to the two of them, when he feels Michael turn his head to look up at him.

“Mm?” Jeremy hums, looking down to meet his gaze, waiting for him to say what he looked like he was going to.

“Wanna watch the videos?” Michael’s eyebrows were raised, giving him a questioning look. 

With a small smile, and a nod, the boy got off the bed and grabbed their backpacks, overflowing with the gear that they had thrown into them in a hurry.

They were both still very shaken up, creeped out, and upset over everything.  **_But god forbid they go through all of that and not get any good footage out of it._ **

**Author's Note:**

> hey what the _fuck_ was this????? idk but i had fun, i stayed up all night last night writing this after spending all afternoon spamming the discord with ideas, and my friends all helped me out with this so much and it wouldn't have gotten done without them
> 
> kudos and comments are always appreciated, come check out how much i love my friends and excessively post about them on my tumblr -> @connormurphweed


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